[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 57 (Tuesday, March 28, 1995)]
[House]
[Page H3811]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                  CAPTIVITY IN IRAQ OF DAVID DALIBERTI

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of 
January 4, 1995, the gentleman from Florida [Mr. Stearns] is recognized 
during morning business for 5 minutes.
  Mr. STEARNS. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to protest the treatment of 
David Daliberti and his fellow American, William Barloon, by the nation 
of Iraq. After accidentally straying across the Iraqi border, these two 
men were tried in a questionable court and sentenced to a prison term 
that lends new meaning to the phrase ``cruel and unusual punishment.''
  Mr. Daliberti and Mr. Barloon are private United States citizens 
employed by an American company doing business in Kuwait. On their way 
to visit friends with the U.N. peacekeeping force patrolling the 
border, they were misdirected by the U.N. Iraq-Kuwait observer mission 
and found themselves in Iraqi territory. As even their Iraqi court-
appointed attorney said at their trial, they were carrying no weapons, 
no cameras, no maps, no compasses--nothing that could indicate these 
men were anything other than innocent victims of an unintentional 
mistake. And, according to the Polish diplomat who attended the trial 
on behalf of the United States, even the judge in the case was 
sympathetic to their plight. Nevertheless, Iraqi law is Iraqi law and 
the men were sentenced to 8 years.
  Mr. Speaker, I don't want to see these men used as political pawns. 
If the statement yesterday by the Iraqi Parliament leader is truthful, 
it is a good sign when he said, and I quote, ``we don't think that we 
are going to facilitate the question of the sanctions through detaining 
these two Americans.''
  As Mr. Daliberti and Mr. Barloon languish in an Iraqi prison, I urge 
the White House, State Department and foreign diplomats working on our 
behalf to spare no effort in securing their release at the earliest 
possible date. I also recommend that the Clinton administration 
dispatch a high-level delegation to Iraq to negotiate for the release 
of these men. And although I am fully aware that we have no diplomatic 
relations with Iraq, I call upon the Iraqi authorities to do the right 
and humane thing and release these American citizens today.
  The trial of these two men was wrong, their sentence was unfair, and 
their release is imperative. The wives and families of these men, 
especially Kathy Daliberti with whom I've already spoken to express my 
support--are counting on their Government to employ whatever means 
necessary to bring them safely home.


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